NBC Reality Stars Meant For Each Other?

JUNE 19--We're beginning to understand why young Paige Jones, the doe-eyed gold digger from NBC's "For Love or Money," hasn't seemed upset by the drunken, grabby-handed antics of Rob Campos, the reality show's creepy bachelor. Turns out that the 21-year-old also knows what it's like to get plastered and act real stupid.

In February 2001, the Texas woman was arrested for driving while intoxicated, according to court records. After blowing through a toll booth on the Dallas North Tollway, Jones--who was driving a Honda with a flat tire--was pursued by a Texas state trooper. According to an arrest warrant, Jones's vehicle was seen weaving across the road and she would not pull over when the officer activated the cruiser's lights and siren. Only when the trooper pulled alongside her car did Jones finally stop. "I didn't see you," she told the arresting officer when asked why she did not stop.

The trooper noted that a bleary-eyed Jones smelled of booze and that her speech was slurred. Asked if she had been drinking, Jones answered candidly: "A whole lot." After staggering out of the Honda, she failed a series of field sobriety tests and later refused to undergo blood and Breathalyzer tests. Cops found a fake ID in her purse, which Jones, then 19, admitted using to "buy drinks at several bars."

In May 2001, Jones was arrested a second time, this time in Richardson, Texas for driving under the influence. She was also picked up for outstanding charges involving driving a vehicle with insufficient insurance and an expired inspection certificate. In July 2001, Jones was busted for the third time in five months. Cops in Ellis County, Texas nabbed her on a misdemeanor charge of driving while her license was suspended. Below you'll find the hat trick of mug shots Jones posed for in 2001, arranged in order of bust.

In October 2001, Jones pleaded to the misdemeanor DWI charge and was sentenced to 90 days in the can and two years probation (the jail stretch was suspended). In addition, she was ordered to attend a DWI education program and submit to an alcohol abuse evaluation. Her driver's license was also suspended for a year and Jones was directed to perform 80 hours of community service and pay a $400 fine. In February 2002, she pleaded to the driving with a suspended license charge and was sentenced to three days in jail and fined $500. As for the May 2001 DUI arrest, Jones was sentenced to a so-called deferred adjudication, which means that a charge gets dropped if the defendant keeps their nose clean for a prescribed period of time. However, since Jones did not complete the deferral program's requirements, the misdemeanor conviction remains on her record.

Jones is now one of four finalists vying to be selected by Campos in "For Love or Money." If picked, she'll have to decide whether to continue a relationship with the 33-year-old criminal defense lawyer or walk away from Campos for $1 million (which gets doled out over 40 years, according to the small print in the program's credits). TSG thinks these two kids are made for each other--it's prime-time kismet. They are clearly simpatico on the subject of sauce abuse (in fact, both have been seen heartily imbibing on the NBC show). And they have both prowled the halls of Dallas's Frank Crowley Courts Building. In fact, a TSG source yesterday spotted the leering lawyer in the courthouse's main hallway, standing adjacent to the room where Jones had entered her DWI plea. How's that for romance? (6 pages)